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LETTER 


REV.   DR.   WILLIAM   B.   SPRAGUE 


PUBLISHED    IN    THE 


APPENDIX 


VOLUME  OF  LECTURES 


REVIVALS 


BY  EDWARD  D.  GRIFFIN,  D.D. 

PRESIDENT  OF  WILLIAMS  COLLEGE. 


ALBANY: 

PHI5TED    By    PACKAIID    AND    VAN    BEHTIIIJYSKK. 

1832. 


5 


LETTER. 


Williams  College,  Jan.  20,  1832. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir, 

You  ask  me  for  some  account  of  the  early  American  revivals  in 
the  modern  series,  jiarticularly  those  in  which  I  was  permitted  to 
take  a  part,  and  those  which  have  occurred  in  this  college ;  toge- 
ther with  my  views  of  the  proper  means  of  conducting  them  and 
of  guarding  against  the  dangers  incident  to  their  abuse. 

Long  before  the  death  of  Whitefield  in  1770,  extensive  revivals 
in  America  had  ceased.  And  except  one  in  Stockbridge  and  some 
other  parts  of  Berlcshire  county,  Mas.  about  the  year  1772  ;  and 
one  in  the  North  Quarter  of  Lyme,  Conn,  about  the  year  1780  ; 
and  one  in  several  towns  of  Litchfield  county,  Conn,  about  the  year 
1783 ;  I  know  of  none  which  occurred  afterwards  till  the  time  of 
which  I  am  to  speak. 

About  the  year  1792  commenced  three  series  of  events  of  suffi- 
cient importance  to  constitute  a  new  era.  That  year  the  blood  be- 
gan to  flow  in  Europe,  in  that  contest  which,  with  short  intervals, 
was  destined  to  destroy  the  "  man  of  sin"  and  to  introduce  a  happier 
form  of  society  and  the  glorious  state  of  the  Church.  That  year  was 
established  at  Kettering  in  England,  the  first  in  the  continuous  se- 
ries of  societies  which  have  covered  the  whole  face  of  the  Protes- 
tant world  and  introduced  the  age  of  missions  and  of  active  benevo- 
lence. And  that  year  or  the  year  before  began  the  unbroken  se- 
ries of  American  revivals.  There  \^s  a  revival  in  North  Yar- 
mouth, Me.  in  1791.  In  the  summer  of  1792  one  appeared  in 
Lee,  in  the  county  of  Berkshire.  The  following  November,  the 
first  that  I  had  the  privilege  of  witnessing  showed  itself  on  the  bor- 
ders of  East  Haddam  and  Lyme,  Conn,  which  apparently  brought 
to  Christ  about  a  hundred  souls.  Since  that  time  revivals  have 
never  ceased.  I  saw  a  continued  succession  of  heavenly  sprinklings 
at  New  Salem,  Farmington,  Middlebury,  and  New  Hartford,  (all 
in  Connecticut,)  until,  in  1799,  I  coidd  stand  at  my  door  in  New 
1 


Hartford,  Litchfield  county,  and  number  fifty  or  sixty  contiguous 
congregations  laid  down  in  one  field  of  divine  wonders,  and  as  ma- 
ny more  in  different  parts  of  New  England.  By  1802  revivals  had 
spread  themselves  through  most  of  the  western  and  southern  States  j 
and  since  that  time  they  have  been  familiar  to  the  whole  American 
people. 

I  preached  my  first  sermon  at  New  Hartford  Oct.  26, 1794.  In 
the  fall  of  1795  a  revival  commenced,  which  in  the  course  of  the 
winter  apparently  brought  about  fifty  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth. 
The  neighbouring  towns  were  not  then  visited :  but  in  October  1798 
a  great  revival  began  at  West  Simsbury  on  the  east,  and  soon  ex- 
tended to  Torringford  on  the  west,  and  we  were  left  like  a  parched 
island  in  the  midst  of  surrounding  floods.  The  agonies  of  that  hour 
can  never  be  told.  First  one,  and  then  two,  and  afterwards  more 
met  me  in  my  study  for  prayer,  and  the  wrestlings  were  such  as  I 
had  never  witnessed  in  a  meeting  before.  On  the  4th  of  Novem- 
ber I  went  to  the  house  of  God,  saying  as  I  went,  "  My  soul,  wait 
thou  only,  only,  only  upon  God,  for  my  expectation  is  from  him." 
During  the  morning  service  I  scarcely  looked  at  the  audience,  and 
cared  not  whether  they  were  asleep  or  awake,  feeling  that  the  ques- 
tion of  a  revival  did  not  lie  between  me  and  them,  but  was  to  be 
settled  in  heaven.  In  the  afternoon,  in  alluding  to  the  fact  that  Je- 
sus of  Nazareth  was  passing  by,  and  we  were  left,  and  could  hard- 
ly hope  for  another  visit  so  soon,  and  to  the  awful  prospects  of  sin- 
ners in  the  middle  of  life  if  another  revival  should  not  come  in  twelve 
or  fifteen  years,  I  seemed  to  take  an  eternal  leave  of  heads  of  fami- 
lies out  of  Christ ;  I  came  near  falling ;  I  thought  I  should  be  obli- 
ged to  stop ;.  but  I  was  carried  through.  The  next  day  it  was  ap- 
parent that  a  revival  had  commenced  ;  a  dozen  heads  of  families  of 
the  most  respectable  class  were  under  conviction ;  and  in  the  course 
of  the  winter  and  the  following  year  a  hundred  were  hopefully  add- 
ed to  the  Lord.  The  last  time  that  I  heard  that  4th  of  November 
referred  to  at  New  Hartford,  I  was  told  that  between  forty  and  fifty 
of  those  who  had  been  received  to  the  church,  dated  back  their  con- 
victions to  that  day. 

In  October  1800  the  health  of  my  family  and  the  peremptory  ad- 
vice of  physicians  compelled  me  to  leave  New  Hartford.  I  spent  the 
winter  in  Orange,  New  Jersey.    A  time  of  refreshment  from  the  pre- 


sence  of  the  Lord  was  afforded  us,  and  about  fifty  were  added  to  the 
church.  In  October  1  SO  1 1  was  installed  at  Newark.  A  revival  com- 
menced the  following  winter,  which  continued  through  1802  and  ex- 
tended into  1S03.  In  my  journal,  under  date  of  Feb.  16,  1803,  I 
find  a  hope  expressed  that  the  number  of  converts  amounted  to  a 
hundred.  The  neighbouring  ministers  were  revived,  and  in  the  spi- 
rit of  prayer  went  forth  two  and  two  to  visit  the  congregations, 
spending  a  day  and  holding  two  meetings  in  a  place,  and  continuing 
out  six  days.  These  means  began  to  be  blest  as  early  as  January 
1803,  and  that  year  about  twenty  contiguous  congregations  experi- 
enced the  mighty  power  of  God. 

In  the  spring  of  1807  some  seriousness  appeared  in  Newark  and 
a  very  few  obtained  hopes  ;  but  the  impression  past  off.  In  the 
summer  some  half  a  dozen  Christians  were  much  exercised  for  a 
revival,  and,  as  it  appeared  afterwards,  several  sinners  were  night- 
ly carried  in  their  dreams  to  the  judgment  seat,  who  threw  off  their 
impressions  by  day.  In  the  latter  part  of  August  a  great  revival 
broke  out  at  Elizabethtown  on  the  south  and  at  Orange  on  the  west. 
The  Friday  before  the  first  sabbath  in  September,  (which  was  our 
communion  sabbath,)  was  observed  by  the  church  in  Newark  as  a 
day  of  fasting  and  prayer.  On  sabbath  morning  a  meeting  was  held 
expressly  to  pray  for  a  blessing  on  the  word  that  day.  Some  went 
with  little  impression,  who  found  themselves  and  their  brethren  lost 
in  that  desire,  and  returned  with  a  strong  hope  that  such  a  blessing 
would  follow.  The  next  day  I  found  several  Christians  saying 
that  they  never  had  had  such  a  sense  of  the  truths  brought  out  on 
the  sabbath  before.  At  a  meeting  in  the  evening  I  saw  and  felt  such 
tokens  of  the  divine  presence,  that  I  had  no  longer  a  doubt  that  a  re- 
vival had  begun.  It  had  begun  with  mighty  power.  In  all  such 
seasons,  if  any  feeling  had  been  more  prominent  than  the  rest,  it 
was  a  deep  sense  of  absolute  dependance :  but  never  had  I  had  so 
deep  a  sense  of  this  before.  I  could  not  keep  at  home ;  I  was  con- 
stantly going  from  house  to  house ;  and  yet  I  felt  that  I  was  doing 
nothing  but  holding  a  torch  to  the  tinder  which  God  had  prepared. 
The  work  extended  to  about  the  same  number  of  congregations  as 
before,  and  by  the  same  means,  the  ministers  going  out  two  and 
two  as  in  the  former  case.     In  Newark  ninety  eight  joined  the 


6 

church  at  one  time,  and  about  two  hundred  in  all.  By  this  time 
it  was  understood  why  a  greater  sense  of  dependance  had  been 
granted  :  the  work  was  to  be  greater  than  I  had  ever  seen  before. 

The  first  of  June  1809,  1  was  removed  by  the  providence  of 
God  and  by  the  advice  of  my  brethren,  to  the  Theological  Semina- 
ry at  Andover,  and  to  a  connexion  with  the  infant  church  in  Park- 
street,  Boston,  as  a  stated  preacher.  The  house  in  Parkstreet  not 
being  finished,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  French  of  Andover  dying  that 
summer,  I  took  the  pulpit  and  supplied  it  till  winter  for  the  benefit 
of  the  family.  It  pleased  God  to  pour  out  his  Spirit.  A  revival 
of  very  considerable  extent  ensued,  calculated  to  fit  that  atmosphere 
to  be  breathed  by  the  sons  of  the  prophets.  One  of  the  subjects  of 
the  work,  an  only  child,  went  out  afterwards  a  missionary's  wife  to 
India,  and  the  affectionate  parents,  I  have  been  informed,  were  heard 
to  say,  they  never  were  so  happy  in  their  lives. 

The  church  in  Parkstreet  having  become  discouraged  by  several 
unsuccessful  applications  for  a  pastor,  I  thought  it  my  duty,  in  the 
spring  of  1811,  to  devote  myself  wholly  to  them.  For  four  years 
we  had  a  continual  sprinkling,  but  things  were  not  ripe  for  a  hea- 
venly shower.  The  congregation  in  Newark  having  amicably  di- 
vided, and  the  second  congregation  being  vacant,  they  solicited  me 
in  the  spring  of  1815  to  return  to  them.  There  were  circumstan- 
ces which  led  me  to  believe  that  such  was  the  will  of  God.  I  went 
about  the  first  of  June.  In  December  1816  a  powerful  revival  be- 
gan in  the  two  congregations,  and  about  the  same  time  in  some 
neighbouring  towns,  which  continued  through  most  of  the  following 
year.  I  have  no  document  to  show  the  numbers  that  were  added 
to  the  churches. 

In  September  1821  I  was  appointed  President  of  this  college ; 
and  the  indications  of  the  divine  will  were  so  clear  that  I  durst  not 
refuse. 

Thus,  my  dear  Sir,  I  have  wandered  over  the  first  part  of  the 
ground  which  your  partial  friendship  assigned  me,  and  will  now 
confine  myself  to  the  more  important  history  of  God's  dealings  with 
this  institution. 

It  was  from  Litchfield  county  that  the  spirit  of  the  new  era  gra- 
dually crept  upon  this  college.  For  near  seven  years  after  the 
charter  was  obtained,  the  professors  in  all  the  classes  amounted  on- 


ly  to  five ;  until,  in  February  1800,  two  of  the  members  professed 
religion  in  Litchfield  county,  where  they  had  been  subjects  of  one 
of  the  revivals  of  1799.  At  the  next  commencement  one  of  them 
graduated  and  another  from  the  same  revivals  entered.  These  two 
were  the  only  professors  in  the  classes,  until  joined  by  four  more 
from  the  revivals  of  the  same  county  the  following  spring,  which 
made  an  important  change  in  the  religious  character  of  the  college. 
The  next  class  that  entered  were  nearly  half  professors,  who  in 
their  senior  year  took  part  in  the  first  revival. 

The  earliest  revival  known  to  this  town  commenced  in  the  spring 
of  1805  and  continued  between  two  and  three  years.  It  soon  ex- 
tended to  the  college,  where  five  began  to  hope.  In  the  spring  of 
1806  a  new  impulse  was  given  to  the  work.  That  spring  was 
made  memorable  to  the  college  by  the  admission  to  its  bosom  of 
those  distinguished  youth,  Samuel  John  Mills  and  Gordon  Hall. 
Mills  had  been  prepared  by  the  revival  at  Torringford,  Litchfield 
county,  in  1798,  9,  and  he  joined  a  class  which  contained  such 
men  as  James  Richards  and  Robert  Chauncey  Robbins.  He  en- 
tered into  the  revival  with  all  his  heart ;  and  in  the  course  of  the 
summer  eight  or  ten  of  that  class  became  subjects  of  the  work,  and 
one  or  two  others,  among  whom  was  Gordon  Hall,  who  joined  the 
church  in  WilUamstown  that  same  year.  The  work  seems  to  have 
continued  beyond  the  summer ;  for  one  account  says,  "  Thirteen 
were  added  to  the  church,  of  whom  nine  became  ministers  of  the 
Gospel.  Ten  others  were  supposed  to  be  subjects  of  the  revival." 
Another  account,  drawn  up  in  1827,  says,  "Besides  those  who  be- 
came church  members  from  the  classes  that  graduated  in  1805,  6, 
7,  8,  9,  about  seventeen  have  since  become  professors  of  refio-ion." 

Mills  had  devoted  himself  to  the  cause  of  missions  from  the  com- 
mencement of  his  new  existence,  and  by  the  influence  of  that  revival 
he  was  enabled  to  diffuse  his  spirit  through  a  choice  circle  who 
raised  this  college  to  the  distinction  of  being  the  birth  place  of  Ame- 
rican missions.  In  the  spring  of  1808  they  formed  a  secret  society, 
to  extend  their  influence  to  other  colleges  and  to  distino-uished  in- 
dividuals in  difierent  parts  of  the  country.  One  of  them  first  rous- 
ed the  missionary  energies  of  Pliny  Fisk,  who  afterwards  died  in 
Palestine.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year,  in  a  beautiful  meadow  on 
the  banks  of  the  Hoosack,  these  young  Elijahs  prayed  into  exis- 


8 

tence  the  embryo  of  American  missions.  In  the  fall  of  1809,  Mills 
and  Richards  and  Robbins  carried  this  society  to  Andover,  where 
it  roused  the  first  missionary  band  that  went  out  to  India  in  1812, 
and  where  it  is  still  exerting  a  mighty  influence  on  the  interests 
of  the  world.  In  that  band  were  Gordon  Hall  and  Luther  Rice 
of  this  college.  Richards  soon  followed  and  laid  his  bones  in  In- 
dia. Mills  and  his  coadjutors  were  the  means  of  forming  the  Ame- 
rican Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  the  American 
Bible  Society,  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and  the  Af- 
rican School  under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey ;  besides  all  the  impetus  given  to  domestic  missions,  to  the 
Colonization  Society,  and  to  the  general  cause  of  benevolence  in 
both  hemispheres.  Such  were  the  fruits  of  the  revivals  in  Litch- 
field county  and  of  the  first  revival  in  this  college. 

In  January  1812  another  revival  commenced  in  town  under  the 
preaching  of  Samuel  Nott,  one  of  the  first  five  missionaries  who 
went  out  that  year  to  India.  In  April  and  May  it  extended  to  the 
college,  chiefly  to  the  three  lower  classes.  Twenty  four  were  hope- 
fully converted  then  and  a  number  afterwards.  Another  account 
says,  "  Twenty  one  were  added  to  the  church,  of  whom  thirteen 
have  become  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  Several  others  felt  the  pow- 
er of  this  revival,  and  their  lives  have  since  proved  that  the  effects 
were  not  transient." 

In  June  1815  tlie  first  President  left  the  college.  His  parting 
sermon  had  a  great  efiect  on  the  students.  A  third  revival  follow- 
ed. Fifteen  were  hopefully  renewed  in  the  course  of  the  summer. 
Another  account  says,  "  Twelve  were  added  to  the  church,  of 
whom  nine  became  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  Several  others  re- 
ceived very  salutary  impressions,  whose  lives  have  since  shown 
the  value  of  this  revival  to  them." 

About  the  first  of  March  1824  a  fourth  revival  appeared  to  com- 
mence in  the  person  of  William  Hervey,  now  a  missionary  in  In- 
dia. Twelve  or  fourteen  used  to  attend  the  inquiry  meetings.  Se- 
veral obtained  hopes  who  endured  but  for  a  time.  Hervey  alone 
persevered.  Of  the  others  that  were  impressed ,  one  obtained  a  hope 
in  the  summer  of  1825,  and  is  now  a  minister  of  the  Gospel ;  an- 
other joined  the  church  after  he  graduated,  and  is  now  a  professor 
in  the  institution. 


9 

When  college  came  together  in  October  1825,  the  arrows  of  the 
Almighty  stuck  in  several  hearts.  Some  old  hopes  were  scattered  to 
the  winds.  A  fifth  revival  ensued.  During  the  latter  part  of  the 
term  the  power  was  astonishingly  great,  affecting  almost  the  whole 
college.  Of  eighty  five  students,  full  seventy  thought  themselves 
Christians.  The  impression  was  kept  up  through  the  spring  term, 
but  there  it  ended.  In  this  revival  thirty  five  experienced  hopes, 
some  of  which  were  soon  renounced.  For  aught  I  know,  from 
twenty  five  to  twenty  seven  are  hoping  still,  and  another  who  re- 
lapsed has  apparently  been  recovered.  Twelve  or  thirteen  are  in 
the  ministry  or  looking  forward  to  it.  Of  these,  Mollis  Reed  went 
with  Hervey  to  India ;  two  belong  to  a  company  of  ministers  who, 
in  the  spirit  of  missions,  have  located  themselves  for  life  in  the 
new  settlements  beyond  the  Mississippi ;  and  two  or  three  others 
have  been  pondering  on  a  missionary  life. 

The  sixth  revival  began  about  the  first  of  March  1827,  and  con- 
tinued till  vacation.  It  spent  its  chief  force  on  the  two  lower  class- 
es, from  which  six  professed  religion. 

In  October  1828  some  seriousness  appeared,  which  continued 
through  that  and  the  next  term.  Nine  visited  me  under  some  im- 
pressions. Inquiry  meetings  were  set  up.  One  obtained  a  hope 
which  was  soon  renounced.  Not  an  individual  held  out.  Three 
of  them  however  have  since  given  evidence  of  a  saving  change. 

A  seventh  revival  appeared  to  commence  in  November  1829. 
That  month  two  gave  evidence  of  piety  who  still  continue.  High 
hopes  were  entertained  and  a  determination  was  taken  to  pray  till 
the  blessing  came.  Meetings  for  prayer,  accompanied  with  consi- 
derable excitement,  were  kept  up  through  the  term,  and  tlorough 
the  long  winter  vacation,  and  through  the  spring  term.  I  attend- 
ed till  broken  off  by  sickness  in  April  1830.  In  the  course  of  the 
winter  two  more  expressed  hopes,  one  at  least  of  which  proved 
doubtful. 

On  the  evening  of  January  6th,  1831,  I  was  sent  for  to  visit 
Troy,  where  the  first  in  the  series  of  protracted  meetings  in  this 
region  had  lately  been  held,  and  where  a  great  revival  had  begun. 
I  went  on  the  8th  and  returned  on  the  19th.  Sometliing  hopeful 
had  begun  to  appear  in  town  before  I  left  home,  and  on  Friday 
evening  the  21st  I  went  to  a  meeting  to  tell  the  people  what  I  had 


10 

seen.  One  of  the  students,  hearing  that  a  statement  was  to  be 
made,  went,  and  was  awakened.  The  next  week  we  had  a  four 
days  meeting,  beginning  with  a  fast  and  ending  with  the  communion 
sabbath.  This  was  the  second  protracted  meeting  in  the  series,  and 
was  attended  with  an  evident  blessing.  A  revival  began  in  town. 
During  vacation  two  of  the  students  obtained  hopes  here,  and  two 
more  in  Troy.  When  college  came  together  the  10th  of  Februa- 
ry, it  was  a  time  of  great  solemnity.  The  month  of  March  was 
full  of  power.  By  the  second  of  April  twenty,  including  those  al- 
ready mentioned,  were  apparently  rejoicing  in  the  truth.  Of  these, 
four  soon  renounced  their  hope ;  the  other  sixteen,  for  aught  I 
know,  still  endure,  and  the  greater  part  appear  like  devoted  Christ- 
ians. 

These  are  the  eight  revivals  which  the  pity  of  heaven  has  grant- 
ed to  this  college  in  twenty  six  years,  five  of  which,  including  two 
of  less  extent,  have  appeared  in  seven  years.* 

The  means  employed  in  these  revivals  have  been  but  two, — the 
clear  presentation  of  divine  truth  and  prayer  :  nothing  to  work  upon 
the  passions  but  sober,  solemn  truth,  presented,  as  far  as  possible, 
in  its  most  interesting  attitudes,  and  closely  applied  to  the  con- 
science. The  meetings  have  been  still  and  orderly,  with  no  other 
siwns  of  emotion  in  the  hearers  than  the  solemn  look  and  the  silent 
tear.  We  have  been  anxiously  studious  to  guard  against  delusive 
hopes  and  to  expose  the  windings  of  a  deceitful  heart,  forbearing  all 
encouragement  except  what  the  converts  themselves  could  derive 
from  Christ  and  the  promises,  knowing  that  any  reliance  on  our 
opinion  was  drawing  comfort  from  us  and  not  from  the  Saviour. 
We  have  not  accustomed  them  to  the  bold  and  unqualified  lan- 
guage that  such  a  one  is  converted,  but  have  used  a  dialect  calcula- 
ted to  keep  alive  a  sense  of  the  danger  of  deception.     For  a  similar 

*  April  18, 1832.  There  is  at  the  present  moment  the  ninth  revival  going  on  in  college.  On 
the  18th  of  January  we  had  a  fast  in  town  to  pray  for  such  a  blessing  in  the  college  and  congre- 
gation. After  that  I  recommended  it  to  the  students  who  staid  in  vacation,  to  hold  meetings 
for  prayer.  The  third  which  they  held  was  on  the  1st  of  Fehruary,  and  I  was  invited  to  attend. 
I  found  the  meeting  uncommonly  interesting  and  encouraging.  I  was  then  labouring  under  the 
commencement  of  a  disease  which  confined  me  till  near  the  middle  of  March.  In  that  interval 
a  protracted  meeting  was  held  in  town  and  a  revival  commenced  there,  and  Uie  spirit  of  prayer 
was  "really  increased  in  college  and  a  spirit  of  inquiry  began  among  the  impenitent.  The  first 
hopeful  conversion  in  college  took  place  on  the  IGlh  of  March,  two  days  before  I  renewed  my 
public  labours  in  the  house  of  God.  There  are  now  seven  students  who  venture  to  hope  that  tlioy 
have  "  passed  from  death  unto  life."  Every  thing  is  conducted  with  perfect  stillness  and  deco- 
rum. 


11 

reason  we  have  kept  them  back  from  a  profession  about  three 
months. 

Sinners  have  been  constantly  urged  to  immediate  repentance,  and 
every  excuse  has  been  taken  away.     At  the  same  time  we  have  not 
denied  or  concealed  their  dependance  for  the  sake  of  convincing 
them  of  their  obligations.     On  the  contrary,  we  have  esteemed  it 
vital  to  urge  that  dependance  in  order  to  drive  them  from  all  reli- 
ance on  their  own  strengtli,  and  to  make  them  die  to  every  hope 
from  themselves.      All  that  you  can  possibly  gain  by  flattering 
their  independence,  is  to  extort  a  confession  of  their  obligations  ; 
for  as  to  matter  of  fact,  they  will  not  submit  until  they  are  made 
willing  in  the  day  of  God's  power.     And  if  you  can  fasten  upon 
them  their  obligations  without  that  falsehood  which  robs  God  of 
his  glory,  pray  let  it  be  done.     This  we  have  found  it  possible  to 
do.     We  have  shown  them  that  their  obligations  rest  on  their  fa- 
culties, and  are  as  reasonable  and  as  complete  as  though  the  thing 
required  was  merely  to  walk  across  the  floor ;  that  their  faculties 
constitute  a  natural  ability,  that  is,  a  full  power  to  love  and  serve 
God  IF  their  hearts  were  well  disposed,  leaving  nothing  in  the  way 
but  a  bad  heart,  for  which  they  are  wholly  to  blame  if  there  is  any 
blame  in  the  universe  ;  that  sin  can  rest  no  where  but  in  the  heart, 
and  that  if  you  drive  it  beyond  the  heart  you  drive  it  out  of  exist- 
ence ;  that  they  alone  create  the  necessity  for  God  to  conquer  them, 
and  to  decide  whether  he  will  conquer  them  or  not ;  that  it  is  an 
everlasting  blot  on  creation  that  God  has  to  speak  a  second  time  to 
induce  creatures  to  love  him,  much  more  that  he  has  to  constrain 
them  by  his  conquering  power  ;  and  yet  after  all  his  provisions  and 
invitations, — after  he  has  sent  his  Son  and  his  Spirit  to  save  them, 
— after  he  has  opened  the  door  wide  and  stands  with  open  arms  to 
receive  them, — they  will  still  break  their  way  to  perdition  if  his  al- 
mighty power  do  not  prevent ;  that  by  their  own  fatal  obstinacy 
they  are  cast  entirely  upon  his  will ;  that  they  are  wholly  in  his 
hands, — that  if  he  frown  they  die,  if  he  smile  they  live  forever. 
This  is  the  grandest  of  all  means  to  press  them  out  of  themselves,  to 
cast  them  dead  and  helpless  upon  God,  to  make  them  die  that  they 
may  be  made  alive.     Conceal  their  dependance  in  order  to  make 
them  feel  their  obligations !  The  maddest  purpose  that  ever  was 
conceived,  unless  the  thing  required  is  to  be  done  in  their  own 


12 

strength.  And  then  why  do  you  pray  for  the  Spirit  ?  "In  all  thy 
ways  acknowledge  him,  and  he  shall  direct  thy  paths."  But  in  this 
greatest  of  all  his  works  he  is  chiefly  jealous  for  his  honour.  He 
will  not  hear  your  prayers  for  a  revival,  if,  when  you  go  out  from 
his  presence,  you  tell  sinners  that  he  has  nothing  to  do  in  the  bu- 
siness but  to  convict, — that  the  god  which  regenerates  is  hght.  If 
there  is  any  truth  sweeter  than  all  the  rest,  it  is  this,  that  we  are 
absolutely,  totally,  and  eternally  dependant  on  his  sanctifying  grace 
and  that  he  will  have  all  the  glory  ; — if  any  view  of  God  more  sup- 
porting and  encouraging  than  all  the  rest,  it  is  that  which  the  Christ- 
ian takes  when  he  feelingly  says,  "  My  soul,  wait  thou  only  upon 
God,  for  my  expectation  is  from  him."  Take  any  thing  else  away, 
but  take  not  away  my  God.  This  is  the  last  truth  that  I  will  give 
up  till  I  yield  my  reason  and  my  immortal  hopes.  K  there  is  any 
truth  in  defence  of  which  I  would  go  on  a  crusade, — or,  better  still, 
in  support  of  which  I  would  go  to  the  stake, — it  is  this.  K  you 
see  this  denial  shut  up  heaven,  and  then,  instead  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
you  see  revivals  carried  on  by  human  devices  operating  on  the  pas- 
sions, there  is  more  cause  to  mourn  than  to  rejoice. 

I  do  not  object  to  all  measures  to  arrest  attention,  to  move  mo- 
derately the  imagination  and  passions,  and  to  put  the  whole  man 
into  action  towards  God  and  his  revealed  truths.  I  am  no  advo- 
cate for  addressing  men  as  intellectual  statues.  But  there  is  al- 
ways some  danger  in  working  on  this  part  of  the  human  constitu- 
tion by  other  means  than  truth  set  in  its  most  affecting  light  and 
pressed  home  upon  the  conscience,  and  at  no  period  of  existence  is 
he  danger  so  great  as  at  the  crisis  referred  to.  The  imagination 
and  passions  are  useful  handmaids  ;  but  when  they  assume  domi- 
nion, they  make  a  religion  of  bad  proportions  if  not  altogether  de- 
lusive. This  the  history  of  religious  enthusiasm  shows  on  every 
page. 

All  this  is  known  to  the  educated  in  our  country  ;  and  if  any  of 
them  have  adopted  measures  calculated  to  give  undue  prepon- 
derance to  imagination  and  passion,  it  has  been,  for  the  most 
part,  to  answer  other  purposes  of  religious  policy.  Much  has  been 
done  of  late  to  lead  awakened  sinners  to  commit  themselves,  in  or- 
der to  get  them  over  that  indecision  and  fear  of  man  which  have 
kept  them  back,  and  to  render  it  impossible  for  them  to  return  with 


13 

consistency.  For  this  purpose  they  are  called  upon  to  request  pub- 
lic prayers  by  rising,  to  come  out  into  the  aisle  in  token  of  their  de- 
termination to  be  for  God,  to  take  particular  seats,  called,  in  bad 
English,  anxious  seats,  to  come  forward  and  kneel  in  order  to  be 
prayed  for,  and  in  very  many  instances,  to  promise  to  give  them- 
selves to  religion  at  once.  For  much  the  same  purpose  converts 
are  called  upon  to  take  particular  scats,  and  thus  virtually  to  make 
a  profession  in  a  day,  and  are  hurried  into  the  church  in  a  few 
weeks.  These  measures,  while  they  are  intended  to  commit  the 
actors,  are  meant  also  to  awaken  the  attention  of  others,  and  to 
serve  as  means  of  general  impression.  I  would  not  make  a  man 
an  offender  for  a  word ;  but  Avhen  these  measures  are  reduced  to  a 
system  and  cofistantly  repeated, — when,  instead  of  the  former  dio-- 
nity  of  a  Christian  assembly,  it  is  daily  throwai  into  a  rambling  state 
by  these  well  meant  maneuvers, — it  becomes  a  solemn  question 
whether  they  do  not  give  a  disproportionate  action  to  imagination 
and  passion,  and  lead  to  a  reliance  on  other  means  than  truth  and 
prayer,  and  on  other  power  than  that  of  God.  I  have  seen  enough  to 
convince  me  that  sinners  are  very  apt  to  place  a  self  righteous  de- 
pendance  on  this  act  of  commitment.  "  I  have  taken  one  step,  and 
now  I  hope  God  will  do  something  for  me,"  is  language  which  I 
have  heard  more  than  once.  Against  any  promises,  express  or  im- 
plied, I  utterly  protest.  If  they  are  promises  to  do  any  thing  short 
of  real  submission,  they  will  bring  up  a  feeling  that  more  the  sin- 
ner is  not  bound  to  do :  if  they  are  promises  to  submit,  they  are 
made  in  the  sinner's  own  strength  and  are  presumptuous.  The 
will,  which  forms  resolutions  and  utters  promises,  cannot  control 
the  heart.  Sinners  are  bound  to  love  God  at  once,  but  they  are  not 
boimd  to  promise  beforehand  to  do  it  and  rely  on  their  own  will  to 
change  their  heart.  This  is  self-dependance.  They  are  bound  to 
go  forth  to  their  work  at  once,  but  they  are  not  bound  to  go  alone : 
it  is  their  privilege  and  duty  to  cast  themselves  instantly  on  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  not  to  take  a  single  step  in  their  own  strength. 
In  these  extorted  promises  there  is  another  evil, — the  substitution 
of  human  authority  for  the  divine.  It  is  right  for  Christians  to 
urge  upon  sinners  the  obligation  of  immediate  submission,  and  they 
cannot  enforce  this  too  much  by  the  authority  of  God ;  but  to  stand 


14 

over  them  and  say,  "  Come,  now  promise ;  promise  this  moment ; 
do  promise  ;  you  must  promise  ;  promise  and  I  will  pray  for  you, 
— if  you  dont  I  wont  5"  is  overpowering  them  with  human  autho- 
rity and  putting  it  in  the  room  of  the  divine. 

Sometimes  these  new  measures  are  plainly  intended  to  work  on 
the  imagination  and  passions.  When,  in  addition  to  all  the  rest,  a 
whole  assembly  are  called  upon  to  kneel,  what  is  this  but  a  mea- 
sure intended  merely  for  effect  1  No  new  truth  is  thereby  convey- 
ed to  the  mind.  Truth  has  to  do  with  reason  and  conscience,  but 
these  tactics  with  im.agination  and  passion  first,  and  afterwards  with 
a  stupid  reliance  on  forms,  as  the  whole  history  of  the  Church  at- 
tests. Is  there  no  danger  that  we  may  again  "be  corrupted  from 
the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ" .''  The  frequent  repetition  of  these 
imposing  ceremonies  will  destroy  their  effect,  and  leave  us  with 
forms  instead  of  feelings.  It  was  in  this  way  that  the  primitive 
Church  sunk  into  all  the  dead  formalities  of  the  church  of  Rome. 
The  ceremonies  were  first  adopted  because  they  were  thought  to 
be  impressive.  In  time  they  ceased  to  impress,  and  then  the  mag- 
nificent and  garnished  body  of  worship  was  accepted  for  the  soul. 
This  is  the  certain  course  of  fallen  nature.  It  is  dangerous  to  work  in 
human  inventions  upon  the  forms  of  our  worship.  He  who  made 
and  united  the  body  and  soul,  best  knows  what  forms  are  adapted 
to  our  nature.  The  more  simple  they  are  the  less  they  draw  the 
mind  off  from  God  and  truth. 

God  forbid  that  I  should  speak  against  protracted  meetings,  but 
I  will  speak  against  their  abuse.  In  this  imperfect  world  it  is  al- 
most impossible  that  such  a  stimulating  institution  should  not  be 
abused.  It  is  so  much  easier  to  enter  into  the  excitements  of  a 
protracted  meeting  than  to  "  tug  at  the  oar  of  prayer"  in  secret, 
or  even  to  exercise  a  holy  heart ;  it  is  so  much  easier  to  move  the 
people  by  these  impassioned  forms  than  to  bring  down  the  Holy 
Ghost  by  the  struggles  of  faith ;  that  there  is  the  utmost  danger 
that  these  meetings  will  be  put  in  the  room  of  secret  prayer  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  even  of  personal  religion.  When  I  see 
them  relied  on  to  produce  revivals  without  previous  prayer,  and 
a  boast  made  that  Christians  were  stupid  when  they  began ; 
when  I  see  a  revival  of  ten  days  produce  its  hundred  converts,  and 
the  people,  who  were  stupid  before,  relapse  into  the  same  stupidi- 


15 

ty  at  the  end  of  the  protracted  meeting ;  I  cannot  but  say,  How  dif- 
ferent are  these  from  the  revivals  of  the  last  forty  years,  which 
were  preceded  by  long  agonies  of  desire  and  prayer,  and  which 
transmitted  their  spirit  to  many  succeeding  months. 

There  is  another  difference,  I  fear,  in  many  cases.  In  those  re- 
vivals unwearied  pains  were  taken  to  lay  open  the  divine  character 
in  all  its  benevolence,  holiness,  and  justice  ;  to  present  the  divine 
government  in  all  its  righteousness  and  purity,  in  all  its  sovereignty 
and  covenant  faithfulness,  in  all  its  reasonableness  and  benignity 
and  awful  terrour ;  to  lay  open  the  carnal  heart,  festering  with 
every  evil  passion,  and  the  horrid  nature  of  sin,  with  its  infinite  de- 
merits ;  to  explain  the  great  provision  of  the  atonement  and  the 
terms  of  acceptance  with  God  ;  to  bring  out  the  mercy  which  melts 
in  the  Gospel  and  to  press  home  the  invitation  ;  to  show  the  rea- 
sonableness and  sincerity  of  God  in  all  his  treatment  of  sinners,  and 
the  unreasonableness  of  their  obstinacy  in  rejecting  the  Gospel. 
All  these  and  many  other  topics  furnished  matter  always  new  and 
always  affecting  to  the  conscience.  It  was  all  regarded  as  an  ex- 
hibition of  God,  in  his  character,  government,  and  relations  to  men ; 
and  if  we  could  make  a  clear  manifestation  of  God,  we  felt  a  con- 
fidence in  leaving  the  issue  in  the  hands  of  that  Spirit  whose  office 
work  it  is  to  take  of  the  things  of  God  and  show  them  to  men. 
But  now  I  fear  that  in  many  instances  there  is  so  much  reliance  on 
these  newly  invented  means  of  impression,  that  the  truths  of  God 
are  but  very  imperfectly  brought  out  or  even  studied ;  dependance 
being  placed  on  a  few  topics  of  exhortation,  without  the  reasons 
which  the  truths  of  the  universe  furnish.  The  consequence  must 
be  that  the  people  will  be  left  in  ignorance,  with  a  high  susceptibi- 
lity of  irregular  excitement,  and  exactly  fitted,  should  more  sober 

habits  return,  to  fill  the  ranks  of  the  most  extravagant  sectaries 

the  same  that  happened  in  New  England  some  eighty  years  ao-o. 

I  have  no  fellowship  with  harsh  or  violent  measures ;  such  as 
abruptly  telling  a  professor  that  she  has  no  religion  and  is  going  di- 
rectly to  hell,  (merely  because  she  is  cold ;)  and  when  she  is  hor- 
rour  struck  and  begs  you  to  pray  for  her,  tearing  yourself  away 
and  saying,  I  ivont  pray  for  you,  and  breaking  out  of  the  room,  leav- 
ing her  in  agonies  on  the  floor  ;  all  to  shake  her  off  from  depend- 
ance on  you,  but  really  endangering  her  reason  and  life. 


16 

Nor  have  I  any  more  complacency  in  public  personalities ;  such 
as  calling  people  by  name  in  prayer  or  preaching ;  holding  up  cer- 
tain neighbourhoods  as  subjects  of  public  prayer  on  account  of  their 
special  wickedness  or  neglects ;  and  worse  than  all,  deliberately 
labouring  to  make  sinners  angry,  in  order  to  show  them  how  they 
hate  God  and  his  people  and  his  truth ;  thus  doing  evil  that  good 
may  come. 

"  Let  your  women  keep  silence  in  the  churches,"  says  Paul ; 
''  for  it  is  not  permitted  unto  them  to  speak. — And  if  they  will 
learn  any  thing,  let  them  ask  their  husbands  at  home ;  for  it  is  a 
shame  for  women  to  speak  in  the  church."*  They  may  not  even 
make  public  inquiries  after  truth.  "  Let  the  women  learn  in  si- 
lence with  all  subjection ;  but  I  suffer  not  a  woman  to  teach  nor 
to  usurp  authority  over  the  man,  but  to  be  in  silence."!  The  con- 
texts will  show  that  the  church  referred  to  was  not  a  judicatory, 
but  a  common  Christian  assembly  for  instruction  and  worship ;  and 
the  reasons  assigned  for  the  prohibition  apply  as  much  to  public 
prayers  as  to  public  teaching,  and  certainly  as  much  as  to  public  in- 
quiries after  truth.  And  prayers  are  public  in  any  assembly  of  men 
and  women  collected  for  devotion.  It  is  not  necessary,  to  make  it 
public,  that  the  assembly  should  be  in  the  sanctuary  or  on  the  sab- 
bath. The  primitive  Christians  had  no  sanctuary,  and  often  held 
those  assemblies  of  which  Paul  speaks  on  other  days  of  the  week. 
Wherever  the  sexes  are  mixed  up  in  an  assembly  for  social  prayer, 
there  the  prohibition  applies.  Nor  is  this  against  our  mothers  and 
wives  and  sisters  and  daughters.  They  will  gain  more  respect  and 
influence  by  keeping  in  the  place  which  nature  and  nature's  God 
assio-ned  them,  than  by  breaking  forth  as  Amazons  into  the  depart- 
ment of  men. 

From  these  excesses  two  special  evils  are  sure  to  follow ;  one 
among  the  ignorant,  the  other  among  the  learned  and  refined.  That 
among  the  ignorant  is  gross,  'palpable  disorder.  It  is  impossible 
that  the  local  scenes  of  the  last  six  years  should  have  been  enacted, 
and  that  the  events  of  the  last  year  should  have  given  currency  so 
wide  to  some  of  them,  without  producing  among  the  ignorant  out- 
breaking disorder  somewhere.  These  fruits,  I  hope,  have  not 
yet  extensively  appeared ;  but  a  late  scene  which  has  been  descri- 

*  1  Cor.  14.  34,  35.        f  I  Tim.  2.  11,  12. 


17 

bed  to  me  as  "  a  perfect  revel  of  fanaticism,"  may  serve  as  an  ex- 
ample. Among  other  excesses,  when  the  awakened  were  called 
out  into  the  aisle,  some  women  found  themselves  converted,  and  in 
the  midst  of  a  crowded  assembly,  and  with  a  loud  voice,  began  to 
pray  for  their  husbands.  And  this  was  taken,  by  men  hitherto 
deemed  sober, — perhaps  too  sober, — as  proof  of  the  extraordinary 
descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Such  disorders,  and  worse  than  these, 
will  infaUibly  spread  themselves  all  abroad,  if  ministers  and  distin- 
guished members  of  the  Church  do  not  combine  in  earnest  to  check 
present  measures.  Human  nature  must  cease  to  be  human  nature 
if  this  is  not  the  result.  The  other  evil  referred  to  is,  that  these  ex- 
cesses, (I  speak  not  of  the  disorders,)  prejudice  men  of  learning 
and  taste  against  revivals,  and  arm  the  influence  of  society  against 
them.  And  thus  while  they  throw  discredit  on  the  most  precious 
of  God's  works  and  obscure  his  glory  where  it  was  chiefly  to 
be  shown,  they  lay  stumbling  blocks  before  the  blind  over  which 
millions  will  fall  into  hell.  Let  the  attention  of  the  world  be 
aroused  by  every  hallowed  means ;  let  the  imagination  and  pas- 
sions be  wrought  upon  as  far  as  the  most  sweet  and  solemn  and 
awful  truths  of  God  can  move  them  ;  let  every  knee  be  pressed  to 
the  earth  in  prayer,  and  every  authorized  tongue  be  strained  with 
entreaties  to  dying  men  ;  let  the  whole  operation  be  as  impressive, 
as  irresistible,  as  love  and  truth  and  eloquence  can  make  it :  but  O, 
for  the  honour  of  Christ  and  his  Spirit,  and  in  pity  to  the  cultivated 
millions  of  our  race,  let  revivals  be  conducted  with  order  and  taste, 
and  shun  every  thing  by  which  our  brethren  may  be  offended  or 
made  to  fall. 

I  am,  Dear  Sir, 
With  every  sentiment  of  affection, 

Your  friend  and  brother. 

E.  D.  GRIFFIN. 
Rev.  W.  B.  Spraque,  D.  D. 


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